The Hindu : `Musharraf playing with destiny of Pakistanis'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 26, 2003

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International

`Musharraf playing with destiny of Pakistanis'

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD JUNE 25. There appears to be no meeting point between the present Opposition in Pakistan and the President, Pervez Musharraf, and the latter is playing with the destiny of the country's 140 million people, claims the former Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif.

In an interview to the Washington correspondent of the Daily Times via e-mail, Mr. Sharif called upon Gen. Musharraf to drop the LFO completely, take off his uniform and step down, he said, "nothing short of it will work or should work".

He also ruled out a "grand national reconciliation" because there "can be no parleys with traitors". All national issues should be debated and resolved in a democratic manner and no "undemocratic influence", a reference to the army, allowed in the political arena, Mr. Sharif said.

Pointing out that he did not believe that the armed forces as a whole were unwilling to transfer power to civilians, he said it was the military top brass that had acquired a "lust for power and contempt for the constitution".

Mr. Sharif lamented that there was no respect for the law in Pakistan today and that he was worried about the common man and his future under "such an unlawful environment'. His passport expired two years ago but had not been renewed by the Musharraf Government.

Holding Gen. Musharraf responsible for the "emergence of the clerics", he, however, stressed that it was unfair to bracket the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the present ruling coalition, with terrorists. In politics, he adds, there must be tolerance even for views with which one is not in agreement.

Reserving his harshest comments for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Mr. Sharif said the agency had forgotten its original mandate and task and was "making and breaking political parties". The charter of its duties must be redefined to safeguard the country from internal and external enemies, he felt.

He maintained that he had always upheld the Constitution and the norms of democracy. He also refused to compromise on principles. The army chief had not been mandated to meddle in internal politics, he said and justified his dismissal of Gen. Musharraf and also disclosed that the former army chief, Jahangir Karamat, had offered to resign when his lapse was pointed out to him.

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